4 Restaurants to Try This Weekend in Los Angeles: July 25 | Eater LA

"Thomas and wife/partner/cheesemonger Vanessa Tilaka Kalb have built one of Pasadena’s most appealing restaurants of recent years. Opened in the early days of the pandemic and surviving a challenging location amid chains, the place has become a mainstay in Old Pasadena. The versatile space — a cozy main dining room that overlooks an open kitchen and an airy back patio — offers different experiences depending on the occasion; soaring ceilings, open skylights, brick walls, black-and-white family photos, and grandma-print upholstery convey a relaxed, mid-century-elegant vibe. Most diners will want to start with the cornbread eclairs topped with piped chicken liver and marinated cherries, a postcard of the Kalbs’ Midwest sensibility. Hazelnut hummus acts as a "spreadable pillow" underneath the beet–Asian pear salad, a vegetable interlude before more substantial mains like the baked potato gnocchi, a truly brilliant dish that rejiggers the steakhouse side. Thai-inflected grilled skirt steak gains smokiness from the wood-burning grill, while crispy Thai-style fried chicken would warm any grandmother’s heart; even the child’s chicken tenders (long pieces of chicken cutlet) are singled out as one of the best kid’s-menu dishes in Los Angeles. A caveat: the cavalcade of rich cheese and heaviness can accumulate, so don’t over-order — leave room for either a cheese plate for dessert or the inventive s’mores choco taco to finish." - Eater Staff